Washing-machine



(ModeL) I. P. FIELD.

WASHING MACHINE.

No. 397,349. Patented Feb. 5, 1889.

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N. PETERS. Pwwumo u n-r. Washington. 0. a

UNITED STATES PATENT Gr mes,

ISAAC FIRMAN FIELD, OF SANDY LAKE, PENNSYLVANIA.

WASHING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 397,349, dated February 5, 1889.

Application filed April 19, 1888. Serial No. 271,251. (ModcL) To all whom it may concern- Be it known that 1, Isaac FIRMAN FiELD,of Sandy Lake, in the county of Mercer and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in \Vashing- Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,-which :form part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in washing-machines; and it consists in the combination of two parz'i llel bearings in which the washers are journaled, the washers connected together near their lower ends by pivoted strips which are provided with journals,

and the lever at each end of the washers for drawing the clothes away from the sideot' the box or tub, all of which will be more fullydescribed hereinafter.

The object of my invention is to produce a washing-machine having an elastic bottom between which and the rubbers the clothes are held. while being washed, 'and in which the cleansing of the clothes is done by means of washers which move back and forth on the clothes, so as to expel the dirt therefrom.

Figure 1 is a-vertical section taken through the center of the tub and the washer. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the washer, taken at right angles to Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the washer alone.

A represents the box or tub, which is made square and provided, with the grooves B in its inner sides, so as to receive the pivots of the washer. The entire bottom of this box is covered by a series of spring-actuated rubbers or blocks, 0, the springs being made sutficiently long to raise the blocks a suitable dis tance above the bottom of the tub, so as to allow the rubbers to give when any pressure is brought to bear upon them and thus form a yielding support or rubbing-surface for the clothes. Each rubber is mounted upon a separate and distinct spring of its own, so that it can have an independent movement from all of the others.

In the two parallel bearing-pieces D are journaled the U-shaped rods F,whieh have rubbing-boards G secured in pairs to their lower ends. Upon the top of each pair of rubbing-boards G are placed the coveringboards H, for the purpose of preventing the clothes from working up between the boards G, as they otherwise would do while the washer is in operation. The U-Shaped rods F are also connected together near their lower ends by means of the parallel strips I, which are pivoted to the rods in such a manner as to allow the rods to have a free rocking motion. Passed through the strips I are the pivots .I, which cat-ch in the grooves 13 in the inner sides of the box, and upon which the washer-rockswhile in operation. This washer is adapted to be removed from one set of grooves 13 in the box after it has been in operation a short time, then turned one-quarter around, and then inserted in the other pair of grooves and made to operate at a right angle to the first position. In this manner the clothes will be thoroughly operated upon from every possible point.

'lhrough the two parallel. bearings D is inserted an operating-handle, O, by means of which the operator can move freelyand oper-. ate the washer. This handle is on aline with the pivots, and, as the pivots are placed below the center of the U-shaped rods when the washer is rocked by means of the handle, the boards G are made to sweep back and forth over the clothes from one side of the box to the other.

The constant tendency of the clothes is to work toward the sides of the box and to move upward between the sides of the box and the outer sides of the washer. In order to catch the clothes which have worked upward, at each end of the washer are the two levers P, which are united together by handles Q at their upper ends, and which have attached to their lower ends the boards R. A cross-bar, T, unites the two levers P together, and attached to the end U-shapcd rod, F, and to the cross-rod T are suitable springs, U, by means of which the levers are returned to position as soon as they are left free to move. Secured to the end rods, F, at a suitable distance from their lower ends and upon their outer sides are the stops V, againstthe lower edges of which the upper edges of the boards R strike, and which stops V prevent the by the spring U, the boards R act in the same boards R from moving upward beyond a certain point. The lower ends of the levers P pass through openings made in the outer edges of the boards, which are secured to the washers, and these openings in the boards 11' serve as guides for the levers in their move- :inents. In order to dislodge the clothes from the side of the box, it is only necessary to press down upon the handles Q, connected to the levers I, when the boards R will be dopressed below the other boards, G, and then when the rubber is rocked these boards R i will catch the clothes,whiel'1 are resting against l l l i i i l i 1 the sides of the box, and pull them away, so

as to be o 'ierated upon the same as the others.

As the pivots support; the washers and slide in the grooves 13, anyanlount of pressure desired can be applied to the washers while in operation, and they can rise over anyobstructions or hard substances among the clothes and adapt themselves to the thickness of the clothes being washed. After the lever l and the boards R have been returned to position manner as the other washers.

Having thus deserilml my invention, I claim 1. The combination, with a washer provided with the bent rods F, having the rubbing-boards secured to their lower ends, ol. the levers I, provided with the boards R, and the sprin U, substantially as set: forth.

The combination of the parallel journals or bearings I), provided with a handle, the bent rods 11, 'ourn.-tled in the bearings, the boards secured to the lower ends of the rods 1*, the eonncetii'lg-strips carrying journals upon which the washers turn, the levers I", provided with the boards R, and the springs U, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I at'lix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ISAAC 'FIRMAN FIELD.

'\\'itnesses:

II. S. BLAT'L, W. H. Minnow). 

